Last week, Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe
met in Washington with President
Barack Obama
to discuss, among other things, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping trade agreement under negotiations by the U.S. and 11 other nations. The U.S. and Japan are the two largest economies in the talks, along with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The 12 nations together represent about 40% of global domestic product.

Obama has been trying to sell the deal as a way to rewrite trade rules in a way that advances U.S. trade interests, rather than letting China set the agenda. The deal seeks to impose stronger environmental and labor regulations on trade between the 12 partners while potentially eliminating tariffs on items like American rice shipped to Japan and Japanese auto parts sent to the U.S.

But the prospective agreement has faced opposition from liberal Democratic members of Congress and labor unions. To assure partners the deal will not be met with significant delays, the president has introduced fast-track legislation, known formally as Trade Promotion Authority, which has passed committees in the Senate and House but faces an uncertain fate on the floor. The fast-track authority is considered essential for final approval of any trade deal because it calls for, among other things, an up-or-down vote in Congress without amendments.

On Friday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, spoke by phone with WSJ Logistics Report from Los Angeles, where she was hosting a trade forum with Mr. Abe and Japanese and American business leaders about the proposed agreement, obstacles facing TPP, and U.S. trade in general.

A lightly-edited transcript of the interview follows:

Why is the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership so crucial to President Obama’s trade agenda?

The TPP is about market access. It’s about the ability for U.S. business to be able to sell to companies that represent 40% of GDP. Remember, 96% of consumers are outside of the U.S. One of the things the president has recognized is we need greater access to global markets so our businesses can compete.…A third of our growth since 1999 has come from exports. We are going to see unprecedented growth in Asia over the next 20 years. Given the fact that the world is not standing still, the president recognizes that our companies, who employ our workers, have the opportunity to participate. And right now market access is a problem.

What are the key hurdles for the 12 partners getting a deal done?

We’re close to the endgame of the negotiations. What the other 11 partners want to know is that the U.S. Congress supports a trade deal. They want to see Trade Promotion Authority passed. That includes directions to Congress on 150 objectives that are necessary for Congress to agree upon. They’re looking for assurances that Congress is as enthused as the president is. Because, why as a leader would you take political risk if you knew it was a non-starter with Congress? At the end of the day a trade deal is passed by Congress.

There have been negotiations between the U.S. and Japan over tariffs. What are the issues as they stand now?

Japan has been a notoriously closed market, so this has been a really bold thing that Abe is trying to accomplish. He wants to do it because he knows it’s good for his society. Some of the issues have been about certain sectors—the agriculture sector has been notoriously closed. American sales of rice into Japan have something like a 700% tariff. But in the TPP in general, agriculture faces between a 105% tariff and a 400% tariff. That is a barrier. We also have with some of our manufactured products significant tariffs, which makes U.S. goods not competitive to be sold compared with goods from China. This is why it is so important that we do these agreements.

It will give market access. It will set high environmental and labor standards, where if there’s a violation, fair trade remedies can be brought, which hasn’t been the case before.

How does the TPP fit into the broader picture about increasing exports?

The causes of slow GDP growth have been several—weather, decline in oil drilling, household spending, and the decline in exports, which fell about 7%. That’s exactly the reason why we need more trade agreements.

What do you plan to talk about with Mr. Abe when you see him?

I’m going to talk to him about TPP and frankly that assuming we can get Trade Promotion Authority passed, I want to talk to him about implementation. The Department of Commerce is playing a lead role in terms of getting TPA passed. I want to talk to him about the remarkable potential for our two countries if we can get this done, so I want to start planning.

What are your main concerns regarding implementation?

I’m an optimist. I’m hoping these agreements get passed this year, and assuming that happens, TPP becomes a very big focus for my department. We want to bring companies to those markets and really get off to a strong start. The reality is, TPP is a job creator. We’ve spoken with over a thousand business leaders, from small, medium and large businesses over the last few months and they all see the opportunity here.

Given resistance from liberal wing of the Democratic Party and trade unions, how can you assure Prime Minister Abe this is going to pass?

He probably got the most important reassurance from the president…I’m an optimist. This is not a “nice-to-have,” it’s a “need-to-have” for the United States. I think that it’s very forward-looking that we engage in these agreements to support American competitiveness. Americans say, “Give me the opportunity to compete and I’ll do fine,” but the problem with a country like Japan is that because of bad attitudes toward foreign investment or inadequate corporate governance, American businesses don’t have a chance to compete. American businesses just want a level playing field.